Transformations
by KaydenStockwell
Summary: Sirius asks Remus a question and the answer will change both of their lives forever.
1. Anyone Else

A/N: Yes, the following paragraph is from Mitchell's description of George transforming in Being Human Season 1 Episode 2 (With some modifications). And I am using the werewolf from the POA movie for Remus' transformation because, well, I like it better then the book's.

_"He should be dead within 30 seconds. The werewolf heart is about twice the size of a human's. But in order to grow, first it has to stop. In other words, he has a __heart attack__. All of the internal organs are larger, so while he's having his heart attack, he's having __liver__ and __kidney__ failure too. If he stops screaming, it's not because the pain has dulled, his throat, gullet and vocal chords are tearing and reforming. He literally can't make a sound. By now the pituitary gland should be working overtime, flooding his body with __endorphins__ to ease some of the pain, but that too has shut down. Anyone else would have died of __shock__ long ago. But it won't kill him and that's the thing I find most remarkable. It drags him through the fire and keeps him alive and even conscious to endure every second. Nothing like this could just evolve. An impossible lethal curse spread by tooth and claw, victim begets victim begets victim. It's so cruel, it's... perfect."_

Sirius put down the book on werewolves that Remus had lent him. "That is…awful. It's almost like he admires the transformation! Eh…just…eh!"

"That's what I thought! And this guy is supposed to be an expert on werewolves. I mean, yea, he's got some good tips but the transformation is definitely not perfect! More like torture…"

Sirius frowned at his friend. Remus was only a few months younger than he, but he certainly had a significantly larger burden to carry. All that pain he had to go through every month…Sirius suspected that he would have jumped off of the Astronomy Tower years ago. Sirius returned his attention to Transforming: Tips for Your First Moon. He flipped a few pages ahead and stopped. It showed quite graphic _MOVING_ photographs of werewolves in various stages of their transformation. His eyes stopped on the picture that dominated the page.

It was more like movie then anything else. It showed the full moon rising and the man beginning his decent into madness. Remus' eyes drifted to the page that Sirius' eyes were affixed. His expression turned to one of embarrassment and he slammed the book shut on his friend's fingers.

"OOOOWWWW! You TWAT! Watch it, will ya? I kind of like my fingers being attached to my hand, ya know?" Sirius glowered at Remus as he sucked on his rapidly swelling fingers.

Remus winced. "Sorry, I didn't think." He said quietly. "Come on; let's have Madam Pomfrey have a look at those. Wouldn't you to have an excuse for not doing your Potions essay, now would we?"

What? I always have an excuse! You know…"

Remus cut him off. "I mean a VALID one, Sirius." He smirked, shoved Transforming: Tips for Your First Moon by Kent MacAlaster into his book bag and dragged his friend to the Hospital Wing where the school nurse mended his fractured fingers with a flick of her wand.


	2. Can I watch?

A few hours later, Sirius and Remus were sprawled on their beds discussing the things that regularly came up in conversations between two thirteen year old boys: Quidditch, girls, how dumb younger brothers were, girls, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. "What'd you think of Frost's exam, Moony?"

"Eh, it was all right, I 'spose. Bit below us, I think. Though I guess for lumps like Rosier and Macnair it was pretty difficult," Remus smirked as he spat out the last sentence. It was no secret that Evan Rosier and his friends had played a nasty prank on Remus involving a hex that caused him to spout insults every time a teacher called on him. Remus had refused to come out of the Dormitories for three days after that fiasco.

"I know what ya mean, mate. I liked question seventeen, though. _'What is the only way to be infected with Lycanthropy?'_ Good one, that."

Remus smiled. "Yea, whatever could the answer be?" The two boys laughed for while over various questions on the quiz but Sirius' mind kept returning to number seventeen. The question then naturally led his mind to Remus' 'Furry little problem' as James had dubbed it. He remembered the book that Remus had shown him and how Remus had looked when he saw the picture of the transformation. His face had been, well, embarrassed now that he thought about it. Not disgusted or pained, but embarrassed. Without bothering to let his next thought shift its way through his frontal lobe, Sirius blurted it out.

"CanIwatchyouchange?"

Remus' brow churched up, trying to decipher the question. "What? Can you have a hamburger?"

Sirius inhaled deeply and repeated the query more slowly. "Can I watch you change tomorrow, Remus?"

"I know we're mates and all, but why do you want to watch me change into my pajamas?" he asked innocently.

Sirius glared at him; Remus knew perfectly well what he had ment. Remus sighed and thought about it. "I dunno, Sirius. It's kinda…well, private. And not to mention dangerous! What if he sees you? I mean, if he sees some kid watching him, he's gunna go round the bend! He'll tear your head off! I…uh…NO…just, no way…I'm not..I..I.. Just NO, Sirius!"

The only problem was Sirius now REALLY wanted to see it. It wasn't like he wanted to see his friend in pain, but he was just so curious now. Was it really that bad? Was Remus still in their after he became the wolf? He had so many questions that only witnessing the transformation would answer.

"Please, Moony? PLEASE? I swear I'll read that book so I'll know what to expect! And…and… I'll borrow the Cloak, that way you'll," Remus glared at him and interjected "Him, that's not…it…when it's the full moon, that's not me. He's just not me." "Fine, _he'll_ never see me," he said, enunciating the pronoun change. "And I'll be really, REALLY careful. I'll just stay by the door and when you become him, I'll just watch a few minutes and then I'll leave and lock the door behind me, okay?"

Remus seemed to debate within himself. _Yes, it might be nice to be able to share this with someone. But Sirius could get hurt, or worse_, he thought._ Become one of _them_. _He gritted his teeth and, finally, gave a minuet nod of his head. "Fine. Fine, but you don't take off the cloak, EVER. You don't talk to him, you don't touch him, you don't so much as BREATHE on him. Understand? Madam Pomfrey comes and gets me at, eh, seven and you can just follow with the Cloak."

Sirius Black nodded. He was eager and nervous at the same time. He yawned and glanced at his pocket watch that lay on his bedside table. _Blimey_, he thought,_ it's nearly three in the morning!_ Remus saw the time and briefly wondered what was keeping James and Peter. They had been caught setting off Dungbombs in the Girls' toilet and had been sentenced to a week's detention with Filtch, the caretaker. Detentions normally didn't run past midnight, but Filch had probably made an exception for James.

James had gotten on Filtch's bad side on the first day of school. James been carrying an armload of potion ingredients, tripped and spilled them all over the caretaker. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) some of the ingredients didn't mix well together and had given Filtch massive, angry, red boils in some…uncomfortable… places, apparently. While the Maurders had found this quite funny, Filtch did not share their sentiments and had given James two months of detention. Ever since that incident, Filtch's detentions for James had been increasingly… creative.

Remus and Sirius both laughed as they both remembered the incident. They bid each other goodnight and climbed under the soft, red covers. Before long, the sounds of steady breathing and faint snoring (though Sirius would never admit it) filled the Third Years' Boys' Dormitory.


	3. Completely Alien

The next day passed without incident. Sirius managed to read the werewolf book without raising any questions. He suspected that the fact that he was reading raised more eyebrows then the subject matter. He finished it just before History of Magic and returned it to Remus. Remus, who was looking quite peaky by now accepted it and stowed it into his bag.

The Maurders were enjoying desert (Peter had plum pudding, James had treacle tart, Remus enjoyed a few bites of crumb cake, and Sirius had braved something that looked mysteriously like an acid pop.) when Remus looked at his watch and excused himself for his monthly excursion. The other three wished him luck and told him they'd see him after class the next day. A few minutes later, Sirius made up an excuse about having some bad steak and kidney pie and returned to Gryffindor Tower. He grabbed James' cloak and threw it over himself.

The teenage boy then proceeded to sneak out of the castle and made his way to the Whoming Willow. He saw Madam Pomfrey exiting it and he dashed into the little door buried beneath the roots. He was safely inside when he heard the thrashing of the violent tree resume. He hoped it auto-paused when someone left the tunnel.

Beginning to feel slightly nervous, Sirius swallowed his fear and began creeping along the earthy passage that led to the Shrieking Shack. He arrived at the shifting door and knocked. The moon wasn't due for nearly a half hour, but it was better safe than sorry.

"Sirius? Is that you?" called Remus from behind the door.

"No, it's your mum. Of course it's me! Can I come in, now? It's weird back here…"

Remus told him to come in, so he did. He entered the Shack for the first time and found it to be very different then he had expected. It looked like a bedroom. A very wooden, scratched up bedroom, granted, but a bedroom none the less. There were no windows and they lumber was nailed very tightly together. Sirius suspected it also had some spells to keep Remus in and others out, just in case.

It took Sirius a minute to locate his friend who was now so pale he blended into the armchair he was sitting in. He had stripped down to his underwear as to avoid tearing up his clothes. He had his pajamas bundled up in a secure box along with his wand. The box, though simple looking, was an enchanted chest that allowed only humans to access it. The wolf, no matter how hard it clawed and bit, couldn't open it now matter what.

Remus looked up at his friend, who had paled considerably since entering the room. "Are you sure about this? You can leave, you know, before it happens."

Sirius, gripped the Cloak and firmly shook his head. "No way, Moony! I need to see this to understand and I think it could be good for you. As much as I know you don't like it, he is a part of you. If someone besides you can see what happens, maybe you can start to accept him more…as a part of you."

Remus glared at Sirius and opened his mouth to retaliate but instead doubled over, yelling. A moment later, he stood up. He was whiter than a ghost now. "It's starting. Put the Cloak on…NOW!" Sirius threw the Cloak over himself and moved to the door, his hand gripping the handle. Sirius could see the outline of the moon rising over the mountains. The first bits of light began to see in. It had started.

Remus' pale blue eyes widened as he froze. The irises became larger and changed to a deep green. The white sclera became pink and bloodshot. The pallor of his skin made the slight change from tinged white to a pale gray. Remus began to pant. His arms and legs trembled, preparing to reshape into that of a werewolf's. All of this occurred within seconds.

His fingernails became claws; his fingers broke and reshaped themselves, becoming longer. His screams of pain echoed through the room, breaking the silence. His nose began to lengthen, as did his lower jaw and teeth. He now had canine teeth long enough to tear straight through solid bone. Remus' entire body was growing. Bones snapped and cracked, becoming thicker and more wolf like. His rib cage and spine expanded to twice their normal size. He clawed at his chest as Sirius remembered the book. _The werewolf heart is about twice the size of a human's. But in order to grow, first it has to stop. In other words, he has a __heart attack__. _This was the heart attack then.

His legs snapped and grew longer, the joints becoming rounder and more fixed. Remus was now several feet taller than Sirius. His arms had grown and were clawing at his body, trying in vain to relieve that pain. The sandy brown hair had receded into Remus' head and his face was now that of a wolf's. His ears had morphed into points and his nose and mouth into a snout full of sharp, yellowed teeth.

It had gone quiet. _If he stops screaming, it's not because the pain has dulled, his throat, gullet and vocal chords are tearing and reforming. He literally can't make a sound._ _How awful, _Sirius thought as he recalled the passage, _to be in utter agony and be unable to make a sound. _Tears had long since been shed by Sirius' eyes. To see his friend in such pain was unbearable.

Remus was completely unrecognizable now. Pale gray hair had sprouted all over his body. He was twice as big as the human Remus Lupin and now had the mind of a murderous animal. The creature stood in the center of the Shack, crouched and whining. He continued this for a few moments until he unfolded himself and raised his head to the sky. The werewolf let out a low howl, full of pain and anger and frustration. Sirius closed his eyes. His friend was right. Though Remus was physically a werewolf, this was not the boy he had shared a room with for three years. This creature was completely alien.

The werewolf had begun to traipse agitatedly around the room. He alternated between walking on all fours and hobbling around on two legs. After a few laps, the creature became obviously bored; the boredom then translated into rage. He began to run at the walls, bashing them with his massive shoulder. He clawed at his chest and bit his arms. He literally threw himself at the armchair that Remus had occupied only twenty minutes before. It was ripped to smithereens within three minutes.

Sirius' jaw was clenched now; no book could have prepared him for this. He could see, in a way, what the author of Transforming: Tips for Your First Moon had ment when he said the werewolf was a beautiful creature. Physically, it was incredible. Though as painfully thin as Remus, the animal was covered in rippling muscles. Its bones were thicker and naturally reinforced, making them nearly unbreakable. The teeth were razor sharp, prepared to slice through anything that got in their way. But the knowledge that his friend was under all of that fur was too much. No matter whether the werewolf was a gorgeous as a model or as ugly as a hag, Sirius would ALWAYS despise him for what he did to Remus.

Sirius knew that he had promised Remus he would only watch for a few minutes, but he wanted to make sure the wolf didn't kill himself. _Better to ask forgiveness than permission, I suppose,_ he thought to himself. With that, Sirius settled himself down, prepared to remain crouched by the door until Remus returned and the wolf was banished until the next month.


	4. What happpened?

It was nearly six in the morning when the sun began to creep over the treetops. Sirius' muscles were screaming for a change of position; he had not moved for nearly ten hours. His sleep filled eyes returned to the werewolf who was still pacing back and forth across the room. He had not dared drift off with him in the room. If he had snored of shifted, he would have been dead meat.

As the first beams of sunlight crept in through the cracks, the transformation began, again. Remus' heart and other organs failed so that they could shrink back into their proper size. His bones cracked and reformed into their human shapes. The pale fur receded into his body and his color changed from a pale gray to a peaky peach. The sandy hair rapidly emerged from his skull and returned to its original length. As the screams died away, the thirteen year old Remus Lupin returned. He lay quivering, partly from cold but mostly from pain, in the middle of the room. His naked body was in shock and he seriously needed the Hospital Wing. Remus was covered in open wounds, nearly all of which still oozed blood. He kept his eyes tightly shut and his body automatically assumed the fetal position.

He lay there, whimpering with tears sliding down his pale face, for a few minutes. Sirius slowly eased himself up, his cramping muscles screaming in protest. He slowly made his way towards his friend and pulled the cloak off himself. He then squatted down beside Remus and sighed. The child's eyes snapped open and changed from shock to horror in an instant. "Wha- but you…you…you said that you'd only stay a few minutes! I could have…oh GOD I could have infected you! How…how could…?" Remus weakly stammered. Sirius shushed him and brought over the chest containing his pajamas and wand. He pulled out the blue pinstriped shirt and pants and helped Remus into them.

"I had to stay, Moony. He could have killed you! You don't know what it's like when he's in control. He's…utterly insane!" Sirius said in explanation. He was hugging Remus to his chest, trying to comfort his friend until the school nurse arrived to take him to the Hospital Wing. Remus normally spent a day or so in the Hospital Wing so that Madame Pomfrey could heal him enough so that he would look presentable. Sirius would be in a world of trouble for having been with Remus, but he didn't care. Remus had needed a friend and no disease, contagious or not, was going to keep Sirius from him.

The two stayed like that until Madame Pomfrey arrived to escort Remus and, to her utter shock, Sirius. She took Remus delicately by the arms and helped him to stand, assessing the extent of his injuries simultaneously. She grimaced and said "Mr. Lupin, if you so much as _think_ about walking for the next _week_ I will hex you buttocks into next month! Am I plain?" Remus nodded and she scooped him up; Madame Pomfrey was surprisingly strong for a woman of her apparent age.

As they reached the end of the passage, the witch glared at Sirius. "Mr. Black, you put on that cloak and follow me to the Hospital Wing. I'll give you the week off of classes to make sure that this one," she nodded at Remus, "stays in line after I release him. We'll deal with your punishment later." She lowered her voice so that the half conscious teenager in her arms could not hear. "You have no idea how foolish that was, Mr. Black. You could have been infected, or worse, _killed._ I know that Lupin here is your friend, but you must promise me, that you and your classmates will stay well away from that tree when the moon is full. If I _ever_ find out that you, Mr. Potter, or Mr. Pettigrew, are anywhere _near_ that tree when Lupin transforms, I will hove you out of Hogwarts before you can say 'St. Mungo's'. Clear?" Sirius reluctantly nodded. "Crystal."

While Madam Pomfrey was getting Remus situated, Sirius composed a short note explaining what he had done and where he was.

James and Peter,

Remus and I are in the Hospital Wing. It was Remus' night yesterday and I stayed with him. He scratched himself up pretty bad, but Madame Pomfrey said he'd be alright in a week or so. So, neither of us are likely to be in the Dormitories for a while. Don't come and visit, it might attract attention and we want Remus' "Furry little problem" to remain between us, now don't we? I'll talk to you two in a while. Give Snivellus hell for me, all right?

Best, Sirius

P.S. If ANY of my Bertie Bott's are missing when I get back, I'll know who to blame. *Ahem* Peter!

He gave it to the Hospital owl and the tawny colored bird took off towards Gryffindor Tower. A few minutes later, he was informed by Madame Pomfrey that Remus was situated and starting to wake up. Sirius did a fast walk (which got him a glare from Madame Pomfrey) and sat in the chair by the hospital bed. Remus was lying there, covered in a mixture of dried blood and healing salves. He was beginning to stir, his peaceful face turning into a grimace.

"Oooww…wha- where am? Why you here?" He obviously didn't remember any of the previous night.

"Hey, Remus. It's Sirius. How ya feeling?" He internally berated himself. _Stupid question. How would I feel if I'd gotten chewed on by a werewolf?_

Remus cracked a pained smile. "Like crap. It feels like I've been chewed on by a dog. Pun intended."

Madame Pomfrey stuck her head into the private room and reprimanded him. "Language, Mr. Lupin, language."

The teenage boy apologized and returned his attention to his friend. "So…what happened last night?" he asked nervously. Remus was obviously dreading the worst. His eyes seemed to be scouring Sirius for a scratch or bite mark.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Though I have to say, that MacAlaster guy's description was really accurate. Does…does it really hurt that badly?"

"You try having your bones rearranged and see how it feels," Remus said, almost aggressively. "Sorry, these salves mess with my thoughts. I'm not really processing right now." Sirius nodded. After what Remus had been through, he didn't need to explain_ anything_ as far as Sirius was concerned.

"But, yea. It does hurt," he whispered.

"Who bit you, in the first place?"

"Dunno. Poor sod probably didn't even know where he was. I don't blame him, though," Remus answered Sirius' unasked question. "It wasn't like he wanted to infect me. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"How…how did it…you know…"

"Happen?"

"Yea."

"I was very young when I received the bite. Only five or six." Remus rolled cautiously onto his side and pulled the hospital gown apart so that it revealed his ribs. There was a scar there, about the size of a small fist. "It was late and I was playing in the brook behind my parents' house. They were inside having their tea when it happened. I'd wandered a little farther upstream then I was ment to. I had just gotten out of the water and was changing into some dry clothes. I heard this crunching behind me. I thought it was our dog, Ryder, so I turned around. It was a "dog" all right. I froze, he snarled, and the next thing I knew it was a week later. I'd been taken to St. Mungo's for a full workup. My parents did everything to combat the diagnosis. They paid for re-testing, specialists; even had a few Aurors come down to the house to look at the brook. There's no mistaking Lycanthrope, though. After a few more days, my parents accepted the diagnosis and took me home. They've tried all the treatments there are, but, obviously, none of them have worked. And that's that."

Sirius processed this for a moment and asked "What about Ryder?"

Remus guffawed. "I just tell you of how I became infected with a devastating disease, and all you care about is what happened to my dog?" He chuckled. "Ryder died a few years ago; he got his hands, er _paws_ on some chocolate."

"Oh, pity. I quite like dogs. And I must say, if it weren't for the fact that you're contagious, you'd make a lovely terrier." Remus adopted a look of outrage and cuffed Sirius' head, wincing as he fell back into the pillows. Madame Pomfrey came storming in, wondering what all the ruckus was. "Boys! No! You, Lupin, sit and stay! Black, you let him be, hear?"

"Yes, Madame Pomfrey," they muttered in unison.

They looked at each other as the school nurse returned to her office, which was _conveniently_ located just across from the private section of the Hospital Wing. "This is going to be a LONG week."

They nodded at each other in agreement and settled down to get some much needed rest. Remus shifted into a more comfortable position and Sirius clambered into the neighboring bed. They murmured "Night" to each other and drifted off into the land of dreams.


	5. Loony Loopy Lupin

A few days later, with most of Remus' wounds healed up, the two boys were released from the Hospital Wing. Sirius had escaped detention because Dumbledore had decided that an apparently unwarranted set of detentions would attract too much attention. While Remus and Sirius seriously doubted that anyone would notice Sirius being in detention (it was a regular occurrence. Filtch had a separate filing cabinet for Sirius Black offenses) they weren't going to complain.

With strict orders to keep Remus off his feet as much as possible, Madam Pomfrey ushered them from the Hospital Wing. It was still relatively early on a Tuesday morning and only few people were up. They made their way to the kitchens to grab some breakfast, which the House Elves gladly gave them and then headed up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

The only people there were a seventh year girl, whose name they did not know, and a second year boy called John Mitchell. "Hey Sirius! What's wrong with you?" he asked Lupin. The Maurders were fairly well known, especially James and Sirius. Normally, Sirius didn't mind John, but today, especially with all the questions the kid tended to ask, he was in no mood for him.

"He asked someone too many questions, now scram Mitchell!"

"Holy Harpies, Sirius! I was only asking a…" Sirius pushed past him and helped Remus up the stairs to the dormitories where they were met with the sight of two thirteen year olds in the middle of their morning routine. James and Peter froze for a moment, a look of elation spreading across James' bespectacled and Peter's pudgy faces. They stopped what they were doing and tackled the incoming third years to the ground. After a few minutes of grunting, struggling, and shoving, the boys settled on their beds. Peter and James waited (impatiently) for Sirius and Remus to explain _exactly_ what had occurred over the past few days. It was over an hour later when the story finally concluded. Peter's jaw had had to be wiped off of the floor a few times and James' eyebrows seemed to be permanently raised.

"So you," James pointed at Sirius "spent the full moon in the Shrieking Shack with him?" He pointed to Remus who had fallen into a light dose on his four poster bed.

"Yup. And I've got both my arm and both my legs and _all_ of my fingers and toes. I checked." He smiled cheekily at his friends. "And," he continued, "I get the _ENTIRE_ week off class so that I can make sure he doesn't start running sprints or something! It's brilliant!"

Peter sulkily looked up at Sirius. "No homework either? That's not fair! It's not like Remus is going to need coercing to sleep!" Sirius shrugged. He suspected that Remus would be quite bored once the worst of the bruises healed up. Then he would really have his job cut out for him. After a few minor details were explained and James' cloak returned, the blonde and black haired boys left the room and sped off to Care of Magical Creatures.

After managing a few more hours of sleep, Sirius and Remus were becoming quite antsy. On one hand, Sirius really wanted to spend the remainder of the day on the Quidditch pitch and Remus wanted to watch him. On the other hand, neither of them could be seen by any of the students, as Remus was supposed to have taken ill and Sirius was helping him. James had stashed his Cloak, as he didn't appreciate it being taken without permission and Sirius had failed to locate it.

"Well," sighed Remus, "you could always read one of my books. I'm afraid it's time for my meds, so I'll be tuning out soon."

Sirius grunted and bent down to look at Remus' personal library. His head fell forward in slight shock. Never before had he seen the full extent of Remus' library. It was massive, containing books of every genre imaginable, from Science Fiction to Mysteries. Sirius was in the mood for Quidditch so he scanned the neatly organized rows until he found "Q" This was definitely the least populated section of Remus' library. It contained only six books, five of then having to do with Quidditch. Deciding to re-read Quidditch through the Ages for the tenth time, he grabbed the book and returned to his bed. He glanced over at Mooney who was now looking quite…special. _Boy, would Peeves love this. Brings a whole new meaning to 'Loony Loopy Lupin'._


	6. Friday

The rest of the week went by without a hitch. Remus had stopped taking his pain meds and returned to reality fairly quickly without their influence. His scratches, bites, and bruises had healed remarkably well, leaving only three new scars on his left bicep, upper chest, and right calf. By Friday, Sirius and Remus were bashing their heads against the wall in boredom. Only one more day until they would be free to do whatever they liked!

James and Peter had decided to skive off lessons on Friday to fill them in on the happenings of the week. They said it wasn't like they were missing anything; Fridays were always horrible. (Double Potions _Snivellus was a show off, _History of Magic _Binns would drone on without them, _Transfiguration _The homework was enough to drive anyone off the Astronomy Tower, _and Double Divination_ They'd never seen anything except their reflections in the Crystal Balls_)

According to James, Snivellus' looks significantly improved when he was levitated upside down. "I swear, his face was _almost_ bearable to look at. I only felt slightly nauseous when I'd finished. Much better compared to how ill I normally feel after looking at him." Remus' face seemed to be stuck between a smirk and a frown. He had never approved what they did to Severus Snape, but he's never tried to stop them either.

"Lily didn't enjoy this display as much as you, Peter, and the rest of the school did, now did she?"

James' face fell. They all knew that James had a **MASSIVE** crush on Lily Evans, who, unfortunately for James, had befriended Severus Snape before any of them had come to Hogwarts. "No," he said bitterly, "she didn't. She told me to piss off and pick on someone closer to my intelligence level, like a gibbon." Sirius and Remus snorted simultaneously. That hadn't heard that one before.

"Someone must be coaching her," said Peter with a laugh. "Her insults aren't that well thought out, usually."

James grunted, his spirits hanging somewhere between the ground floor and the dungeons. "How can she _stand _him? He's a complete troll!"

Sirius nodded his head in agreement. "Right you are, James. Oh! I nearly forgot, what's this I hear about you doing the Hokey-Pokey over breakfast on Wednesday?" Peter dissolved into a fit of giggles and rolled onto the floor clutching his sides. James' lip curled into an un-amused smirk as he recalled the incident.

"Well," said James in a slightly embarrassed tone, "I, er, well, I was, uh…"

"He was giving a first year Slytherin a hard time 'cause he knocked into James," explained Peter through his giggles. "Then Snapey swooped to the kid's defense. Got James with a good 'Tarantallegra' hex and there ya go! James was doing the Hokey-Pokey for nearly five minutes before Professor McGonagall could get a good shot at him with the counter jinx. It was hilarious!

James got a positively evil look in his eyes. "Oh, funny, was it? What about now? 'Tarantallegra!' James gave his wand a complicated little flick in Peter's direction. "Still funny, Pete?" Peter was doing a funny jig that looked suspiciously like Chorus Girl Dance.

The room erupted with laughter. James explained that he had looked up the hex and discovered that the person on the receiving end did whatever dance the caster had focused on. Peter had now made several rounds around the beds and was pleading with James to make it stop. "Come on, James! Please? This is embarrassing! I'm sorry, all right? Please stop it! James, come on! Wha- where am I going? JAMES!" Peter's number had taken him to the door that led down the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. Several seconds later, the Tower was guffawing with laughter. It wasn't until some seventh year on a break took pity on the boy and cast the counter jinx. Peter came storming back up the stairs a few minutes later, his face redder than the Weasley family's' hair.

The Maurders continued on with their conversation, discussing the events of the past week, the Hogsmeade trip that weekend, and the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw (Gryffindor had won). They spent the day in the room, leaving only to fetch snacks from the kitchen and to use the loo. By the time that James and Peter had drifted off to sleep, Sirius and Remus were completely up to date on the happenings of the past week and the group's plans for the remainder of May. Before long, the weekend would be upon them and they would be happily jaunting down the roads of the small village near the castle.


	7. Neither Will I

A/N: This is it! The final chapter! Hope you've enjoyed!

Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter headed to the Great Hall for a late breakfast/early lunch. They would head off to Hogsmeade with the other third, fourth, fifth, six, and seventh years around one in the afternoon. The four friends stumbled into the Great Hall is Muggle clothes and severe cases of bed head. They sat down at the Gryffindor table on the far side of the room and began pulling various plates of food towards themselves. Sirius had kippers and eggs, James indulged in some ham and egg quiche, Peter shoveled down three heavily jellied pieces of toast, and Remus managed some bland porridge; his appetite had yet to return.

After clearing their plates, the third years headed (with considerably more energy) out of the Great Hall and to the outer courtyard where Filtch was reading off (for the billionth time) the names of those with permission to visit the village. He went through the "A's" and arrived at the "B's." "Badman, Lucy, Bams, Marcie, Baxter, Adam, Beckerman, Alice, Binly, Franklin, Black, Regulas, Black, Sirius,…"

Sirius smiled. "That's me, then. See you guys in a bit!" He jogged through the gate that led the way into Hogsmeade, taking special care to shove his younger brother, Regulas.

Flitch continued until he reached the "L's." "Laxly, Davidson, Landon, Samuel, LeFron, Gabi, Leif, Annabel, Lorrey, Mitchell, Lon, Ryan, Lupin, Remus,…"

"I'll see you two soon, then." Remus walked, slightly slower than usual, towards the gate and disappeared down the pathway.

The caretaker rattled out the names and reached "P." "Pan, Aberforth, Pansey, Mara, Parkinson, Ralph, Patil, Marcus, Penns, Jonah, Pepper, Alexandra, Pettigrew, Peter…"

I'll meet you there, James, okay?"

"Yea, all right. In a bit, then."

Filtch continued "Planter, Daniel, Plotts, Maisy, Pinto, Alan, Pirtchmen, Amanda, Podmore, Sturgis, Potter, James…" James shot off towards the dirt road, eager to rejoin his mates. He ran at top speed until he reached the welcoming sight of Hogsmeade village. He slowed to a brisk walk and headed up the main road to the Tree Broomsticks pub, where the friends always met. They ordered their usual Butterbeers to go and waited by the bar for their order. James, being well off, always paid. He handed the server eight silver sickles and the four boys were on their way.

They just walked for a while. They didn't say much; they just enjoyed their weekend off. James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius wandered down the side streets, popped into a few shops and eventually wound up back in the main lane. They meandered over to a bench and squeezed into it. For a while, they just watched the other students go about their business. Remus was sure that James and Sirius were plotting some evil prank to play on the group of Slytherins that had just passed them. But what they did surprised him.

The group included Evan Rosier, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, and Severus Snape. While James and Sirius normally would have taken any opportunity they got to get Snape and his friends, they merely nodded at each other, as though understanding that they both wanted one weekend without ending up facing the business end of a wand. Remus was impressed. His friends rarely showed this much restraint. Peter, however, didn't even seem to notice. He seemed completely out of it. Sirius noticed this as well.

"Hello? Earth to Pete! Anyone home?" he asked knocking on Peter's skull. Peter started and yelped.

"Ow! Sirius I'm here! Stop bashing my skull already!" Sirius smirked and mockingly scolded the boy for daydreaming. It was nearly three and they would have to be getting back to the castle soon. The quad decided to split up and meet later. James and Peter went to check out Zonko's Joke Shop while Sirius and Remus went to the Shrieking Shack.

The two boys reached the fence surrounding the house, nursing the remainder of their Butterbeers. They stopped and gazed at the now silent building. Sirius remember the book's passage on werewolf transformations and then thought of Remus in all that pain, screaming so loudly that the entire village could hear him. "I'll never look at it the same," said Sirius with a tinge of sadness in his voice. Remus glanced at his friend and sighed. "Neither will I, Sirius. Neither will I."


End file.
